Lawrence back for Tigers NRL final
Joe Barton
September 12, 2011 - 12:44PM

Wests Tigers received a boost on Monday, with star centre Chris Lawrence declaring himself a certain starter for Friday night’s elimination NRL final against the Warriors.

Lawrence, who has not played since injuring his hamstring in the Tigers round 22 victory over St George Illawarra, said he was close to playing in last Friday’s qualifying final with the Dragons but was a late scratching as a precaution.

Coach Tim Sheens confirmed Lawrence would be selected in the team announced on Tuesday, and while he was wary of saying the 22-year-old was a “sure thing” Lawrence himself says there is no question about his availability.

“I’m playing no matter what,” he told reporters on Monday.

"I was pretty close (last week), I worked really hard earlier in the week and put my body through a lot.

“Not just my hammy, my body was pretty sore later in the week and on our session on Thursday I had another run but my body was feeling the effects of a tough early week and the medical staff thought that going into a game fatigued like that is probably not the best preparation, so they decided to give me another week and freshen up.”

Lawrence, who thought his season was over when he dislocated his hip against Canberra in round three, said it had been a tough year dealing with a series of injuries.

“Obviously when I first did my hip I thought ‘that’s the season’ so my first thoughts were basically to think about next year,” he said.

"I’ve worked pretty hard to get myself back.

"… (It’s been) very frustrating, it just feels like every time I get over one thing and I come to the back end of it something else happens.

"But I think that’s footy, you’ve got to cop the good with the bad and hopefully there can be some light at the end of the tunnel.

“We’re potentially only three games away from a grand final (win), that’s the motivating factor for me at the moment.”

Chris Lawrence may have declared himself a certain starter to line up against the Warriors this Friday night at the Sydney Football Stadium but
Wests Tigers Head Coach Tim Sheens remains optimistic.

Lawrence was named in the team to play St George-Illawarra at ANZ Stadium last Friday night to make his return from a hamstring injury but was a late scratching, resulting in winger Matt Utai moving to the centres.

“I’m playing no matter what,’’ a smiling Lawrence said.

“I was pretty close to playing last week. I worked really hard early in the week and put my body through a lot.

“It wasn’t just my hammy. My body was pretty sore later on in the week, especially Thursday. I had another run but my body was feeling the effects of the tough week.

“The medical staff felt that going into a game fatigued like that was probably not the best preparation so they decided to give me another weekend to freshen up.”

Sheens said Lawrence would be picked in the side but didn’t declare him a certain starter.
“If he finishes his training this week and if he is right, he will play,’’ Sheens stated.
“But he is no certainty. I hope he does think he is a certainty. That would be good if he is but there is no such thing as a certainty in this business.”
Should Lawrence take to the field against the Warriors, it will be just his ninth game after a horror run with injuries, highlighted by a dislocated hip in round 3. Lawrence described his season as ‘frustrating’.
“I get over one thing and I’d be coming through the back end of it and then something else happens. But that’s footy. You have got to cop the good with the bad,’’ Lawrence said.
“Hopefully there can be some light at the end of the tunnel. Potentially, there are only 3 games away from the grand final, so that’s the motivating factor for me at the moment.
“When I first did my hip, I thought that was my season. My first thoughts were basically to try and think about next year.
“I got some pretty good news after the scans and got the chance to come back this year. I got back probably earlier than what I would have thought.
“I felt like everything was going good and it was just a shame I had to come down with another injury to just set me back.
“These things happen and I have worked pretty hard to get myself back and as I said, the motivating factor was playing this time of the year.
“Everyone starts the year wanting to play in semi-final football. I’m just looking forward to getting back on the field.”